Hi there,

I am having a hell of a time finding someone to help jack up my beam
and re-support it. I have talked with (and had over for estimates) a
number of contractors, and NOT ONE of them will even pay deference to
the idea that the beam probably should not be jacked the full 1 1/2 to
2 inches in *one* afternoon!! When I questioned one guy about his
"jack-it-now" approach and about the fact that he didn't mention
digging any footings in the slab, he said "well yeah... that WOULD be
safer and better, I guess..."

What is "I guess?" Ugh! frustration.

I am getting exasperated, and was hoping for a TOTAL ballpark cost idea
from anyone out there regarding the potential for replacing the
existing beam with steel instead. (That way I can avoid all the
run-around I seem to be getting about jacking the beam instantly
(probably breaking it), totally questionable issues between the various
contractors regarding how deep to dig footings (have rec'd opinions
ranging from 'don't dig at all' to 'four feet', etc.

Anyone know totally generally how much this would be for a ~24 ft span?
when I say *generally* i mean even as ballpark as "between 2500 and
5000" -- must any more specific would also be appreciated. My
curiousity is whether eliminating at least some of the need for cutting
the slab, pouring concrete, and so on would offset the presumably
higher price but lower level of manual labor involved in replacing the
beam w/steel. Can a steel beam hold a 24' span w/o support posts (or at
least without lots of them)?

Any first-hand experiences with such a project??

Thanks so much in advance -- it's not so eay to find this kind of
focuses information via regular google searches, and I am just thinking
of overall feasibility at this point before I bother to call people
over to check it out again (and re-start the run-around).